Johnny
Eblen believes that Costello
van Steenis could have made the walk at the
Professional Fighters League’s upcoming fight card in Austin,
Texas.
Eblen was slated to face van Steenis in the July 18
PFL Austin main event at Moody Center. However, the latter
withdrew due to an injury. Eblen, who lost to van Steenis at PFL
Africa 1 in July 2025, won’t have a shot at redemption just yet and
will instead face Impa
Kasanganay for the interim title.
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The American has now slammed his Dutch-Spanish counterpart for
pulling out.
Johnny Eblen questions Costello van Steenis injury before PFL
Austin main event
Eblen shared his reaction to van Steenis backing out of the fight.
He isn’t sold on the extent of the current PFL champion’s injury
and speculates that his former foe just wants more time to
train.
“I want to stay active, and he didn’t want to fight [in] July… He
wanted to push it to later so, it is what it is,”
Eblen told MMAJunkie. “He’s being a bitch,” he said. “I guess
he got hurt, but from what I heard, I just did an interview, the
dude looked at his Instagram. I don’t pay attention to him to be
honest, like I don’t care what they’re doing, but he said he was
looking into what he’s been up to, and I guess he’s been
training.”
“So, whatever injury he had wasn’t serious,” the former PFL
champion added. “I think he just wants a little more time because
at the end of the day, guys fight injured, but how bad of an injury
is it? Is it something you can’t train with or fight with? And
apparently, he’s been training so, I think he just didn’t want to
have a quick turnaround and it didn’t work for him.”
Eblen then highlighted that most fighters compete with injuries to
some degree, using his training partner and friend Sean
Strickland as an example.
“I have little injuries all the time that I train with and I fight
with. Sean fought [against Khamzat
Chimaev] with a separated shoulder the week of the fight. Guys
aren’t 100 percent healthy when they show up in the ring,” he
concluded.